Episode 42: A tangle of knitters?

Welcome to episode 42 everybody! Kim and Marcy are in the classroom and they are sharing all of their FO's, WIP's and new CO's. There's uber craftiness and plans for the end of 2017 (can you believe that?!?) Grab your knitting, a soothing beverage and join us!

Episode 42 Audio

Marcy, in her Casual Kimono, Pippa in her cashmere hat and
Kim holding up her Sunset Highway after recording

What's in our Lesson Plan?

1. On the PA System
2. After the finish line
3. Show & Tell
4. We are Uber Crafty
5. What's on our Black Board?

On the PA System

Marcy brought us a fun question- what is a group of knitters called? There is no actual term for it, but on the blog, 'Men Who Knit, ' they were curious about the collective noun for knitters and they took a poll in 2007. Go have a look and let us know what you think.  Here are some options: tangle, herd, purl, obsession, ...

Bloom Yarn from Paradise Fiber

Marcy gave Kim her xmas present because she was dying for her to see this beautiful fiber that she got at Paradise Fiber in Spokane.  Marcy got a wonderful interview with the owner of the shop and we will be dropping it after the New Year.

After the Finish Line

Marcy was wearing her Casual Kimono while we recorded and she's been getting a lot of wear out of it recently. She's also been wearing her True coat by Joji Locatelli and Pippa has been wearing her adorable cashmere baby bonnet given to her by Bonnie Riley at Lamb Town.

Kim has been wearing her Veronika by Cocoknits so much that she's thinking about making a 2nd. She often pairs it with her Drachenfels shawl by Melanie Berg. She's been wearing her 1st sweaterspin, the Art Walk Cardi by Hannah Fettig a lot and has worn her Bankhead hat by Susie Gourlay while walking late in the day. She wears hand knit socks everyday.

Show & Tell

Kim is in sleeve hell and still hasn't finished her Sunset Highway by Caitlin Hunter because of the darn sleeves. So many howlers!!! (Created by her...not the pattern, sigh.) She is also working on  and really enjoying her new CO, the Zweig pullover also by Caitlin Hunter. This is a beautiful pullover with a little bit of color work on the yoke and some gorgeous lace with a few cables as the main feature on the yoke.  Kim is continuing to work on her P-Rex by SoSu, in between knitting Caitlin Hunter sweaters! It will be such a fun cape to wear and the colors are beautiful.

***Kim's new knitting guideline is to READ the pattern, probably a few times, and then knit (hopefully just once!) in order to avoid more howlers due to silly mistakes and not paying attention to the instructions!

Kim's Damejakka Loppa by Pinnegurri is living up in her knitting studio and is coming along slowly because it's not getting a lot of time and attention at the moment.  Finally, her Afterthought Everything Christmas socks are moving along. Hopefully, they'll be done by Christmas.

Marcy is working on her P-Rex cape and it's coming along beautifully. She's making a few mods, which will all be listed on her project page. She has resurrected a project that really needs to be called a UFO instead of a WIP (unfinished object instead of work in progress,) which we all have. Her #12 Collared Cardigan by Sharon Sorken was CO on 1/22/14, but it's in her active rotation now! She's concerned about the sizing, but hopes that with blocking the sweater will grow and fit nicely.

Marcy's Stocking she is making for Pippa.

Marcy is continuing to work on Pippa's Christmas stocking and she's making wonderful progress. It's looking beautiful and baby Pippa will certainly have a stocking to put out for Santa on 12/24! In our last episode, Marcy spoke about 'Project Peace 2017.' She has cast on the shawl and is really enjoying the daily emails, the easy knit and the yarn. You can read all about this project on Christina Campbell's (aka, The Healthy Knitter,) blog. Kim has purchased the pattern (only $3 and all proceeds go to charity,) and is planning on casting on at the end of the year or in January. Join us in this fun and peaceful project! 

Marcy's Project Peace 2017, using

hand dyed yarn from Kim.

We are Uber Crafty

Kim has finished ~ 600 yards of a 3 ply on her 3rd sweater spin. This one is made up mainly of natural BFL and then she added in 1 braid that has red, blue and greens in it. The two finished bobbins look like Gingerbread Christmas! The plan is now to finish spinning the rest of the fiber and then next Fall to knit a Christmas sweater. 

The yarn hat ornaments

From the top, a yarn ball ornament, 2 star
ornaments and a felted soap

Kim hosted some knitting friends for a "Craft all the Christmas things day." They had a ball and made fairly fast and easy Christmas ornaments and gifts that can all be found on Pinterest. Here is Kim's Pinterest page. They made: felted soap, yarn hat ornaments, Christmas star ornaments and several different types of yarn balls.

What's on our Black Board?

Episode 43 will be our last one for 2017! We will revisit our year long knitting goals and talk about how we did. We'll also be sharing any new cast ons, WIP's and FO's. Hopefully there will be a stocking or two finished and 1 or 2 sweaters! Have a fantastic couple of peaceful weeks and Happy Knitting!

Episode 41: Welcome December!

Hello dear knitters! Thank you for joining us today for ep. 41. In this field trip podcast, Marcy takes us to visit a yarn shop in Auburn, California. We share our FO's, a few WIP's and our massive cases of startitis! Grab your knitting, some eggnog or tea, get comfy and enjoy! ***Baby Pippa is joining us today, see if you can hear her adorable baby laughs and happy noises.

Episode 41 Audio

What's in our Lesson Plan?

Marcy, Kim, & Pippa, Marcy is holding her yarn
for the Peace Shawl.

1. On the PA System
2. After the finish line
3. Show & Tell
4. Fieldtrip notes: Marcy visits Auburn Needleworks
5. What's on our Blackboard?

On the PA System

• The 'Octopus for a Preemie' project is continuing. Marcy has figured out how to attach all of the useful Pdf's on our blog tab and you can find all information there. Keep crocheting!
• Just a heads up that this is a perfect time to start thinking and planning for any 2018 goals/themes. In our last ep of 2017 we'll talk about how we did with our year long goals and in the 1st ep of 2018 we'll share our new goals/themes for the year. 
• Check out your area to see if there are any Guilds that you might be interested in joining. Kim has joined the Sacramento Weavers and Spinners Guild and is planning on joining the Sacramento Knitting Guild. If there are no guilds in your area you can start one! Also, these groups usually have amazing yearly open houses and sales; this is a great opportunity to purchase beautiful items at a great price.

After the Finish Line

This is a new segment where we talk about the knitwear that we've worn since the last podcast. Marcy wore her Om Shawl  by Andrea Mowry for the 1st time and she loved wearing it and got many compliments. Marcy's 3 year old son Wilson has been wearing his monster pants a lot. Marcy is planning on adding some length so that he can wear them even longer. 

Kim was so happy to wear her Twigs and Willows cardigan by Alana Dakos on Thanksgiving Day. She finished this last Spring and did a research paper on the show about the special button bands and button holes. You can find that in ep. 32. She's also been wearing her Veronika by Cocoknits and her Drachenfels  shawl by Melanie Berg. As soon as the weather cools down she is always wearing and enjoying her hand knit socks.

Show & Tell

Kim was wearing her new finished socks while recording. The crazy Zauber socks were a total product knit and the process was filled with howlers! Read about them on her project page.

Kim is totally color work obsessed at the moment. She is almost done (and is in sleeve hell!) with her Sunset Highway pullover by Caitlin Hunter. Such a lovely knit and it'll be a joy to wear. 

She also has the Lady's Flea cardigan, aka Damejakka Loppa by Pinnegurri, on the needles and this fair isle cardigan will be steeked and Kim plans on installing a zipper. Finally, the Zweig pullover by Caitlin Hunter is on deck and will be CO after recording. 

Marcy and Kim (and it seems like most of the knitting community too!) have had major startitis/castonitit/startosis lately! We want to CO and knit ALL THE THINGS! It's fun, but we only have 2 hands. When Marcy visited Auburn Needleworks she found some yarn to knit Pippa a little dress for Thanksgiving. The Kraemer  Perfection Worsted yarn was perfect for this sweet little sleeveless dress. Pattern is Baby Frock by Hannah Fettig and it fits Pippa perfectly!

The start of Pippa's stocking!

Marcy has also CO a Christmas stocking for Pippa. Its been quite an adventure to pick the colors, but she found what she wanted at our lys, Got Your Goat, and she has CO and Pippa will have a finished stocking for Christmas. She is using the 'New Ancestral Christmas Stocking' pattern by Ann Shayne and this will be the 4th time that she's knit it. 

Project Peace 2017

Marcy found another skein of yarn (Baah! Platinum,)that she really likes from Auburn Needleworks and she's planning on using it with a skein of hand dyed yarn that Kim dyed for her for her birthday. Marcy will be casting on the Project Peace 2017 shawl on December 1 and she is excited to use these two skeins of yarn. If you've never heard of it, please go read the project page notes for this shawl; it's a lovely idea and something that we can all benefit from. It's only $3 and all proceeds go to charity. 

Marcy's mom, Pansy2horses, knit Marcy an adorable tea cozy. It's a beautiful green color and she embroidered a cute little chick on it. Marcy has been wanting a tea cozy and now she's using it everyday. Kim has knit and felted 5 tea cozies and she loves them and uses this one everyday. 

Tea Cozy made for Marcy by her mom.

Fieldtrip Notes

Kim, Marcy, & Pippa

Marcy visited the new (well, the shop is under new ownership and in a new location, but the Auburn Needleworks has been in Auburn for over 25 years,) lys in beautiful Auburn, California. This is a special shop. In addition to the usual yarn and supplies for knitters and crocheting, this lys has needlepoint, cross stitch and weaving supplies. There are very knowledgeable employees to help you in all of these fiber pursuits and they offer many classes as well. If you are driving up interstate 80 to Tahoe or Reno, stop by and say hi, the shop is right by the freeway, a quilt shop and restaurants!

Marcy sat down with Kim, one of the owners of the shop and had a lovely interview, enjoy!

Views of the shop, the one on the left is from the front door looking in,
the one on the right is looking back at the front door.

Both gathering spaces in the yarn shop, one in the front of the shop
 and one in the back of the shop.

Look at all those beautiful colors!

The back part of the shop is dedicated to needle point. 

What's on our Black Board?

When we next record we'll share ALL of  our new CO's (there may be 100's!) WIP's and FO's. There will also be spinning, dyeing and Christmas crafting. Thank you for knitting along with us today and we hope you have a wonderful couple of weeks. Happy Knitting!

Episode 40: A November Quickie

Welcome dear Knitters to episode 40! In this 'in the classroom' podcast Marcy and Kim share their WIP's, new Co's and some uber craftiness. In addition, we've added a new, seasonally appropriate segment. Grab your knitting, a soothing beverage, put your feet up and enjoy #40!

Episode 40 Audio

Marcy is wearing her Cancun boxy lace top and Kim
is wearing her 1st Sweaterspin

Marcy, Pippa and Kim after recording

What's in our Lesson Plan?

1. On the PA System
2. After the Finish Line
3. Show & Tell
4. We are Uber Crafty
5. What's on our Black Board?

On the PA System

We are continuing our "Octopus for a Preemie" crochet along. All info can be found here on the blog and here on our Ravelry page. 

After the Finish Line

This is a new segment that we've added now that it's cool enough to wear our knitwear on a regular basis. We thought that our knitting goes through several steps to become an 'FO' and then the item is technically in the group that is 'After the Finish Line!' Therefore, in this segment we'll talk about our finished knits that we've been wearing and enjoying. 

Kim has been wearing her Ruination Socks constantly ever since the weather cooled down. Marcy gave Kim the yarn for her birthday in 2016 and this yarn is AMAZING! She has also very happily been wearing her #legacysweaterspin sweater. Finally, while on vacation in Cabo last week she wore her 'Freestyle Shawl' in the evenings.

Marcy wore her lovely Sakasama Jacket while in Las Vegas for a wedding and received many compliments on it. She also has worn her Purple Light Gale and really enjoyed it.

Show & Tell

Kim has no FO's, but has continued to work on her P-Rex by Sosu and her Hotel of Bees Shawl by Christina Hadderingh. Sadly, both of these projects are HOWLING at her at the moment and that is not making her very happy! Hopefully, they will both be fixed and back on track very soon. 

***A Howler is a slightly amusing problem that we are having with our knitting. Sometimes the Howler can be quite severe though!

Kim's 1st Octopus before stuffing and final finishing.

While on vacation for a week, Kim did very little knitting and decided to just give her hands a rest for once! She did get a little bit done on her Crazy Zauber Socks and is excited to get these finished. Also, Kim is almost done with her 1st Octopus for a Preemie. She also began a "lollipop"  Octopus (her name for it; she couldn't find one on Ravelry,) which has a flat head and fewer tentacles. 

Kim has cast on 2 new pairs of Christmas socks and is knitting them loosely based on the Afterthought Everything pattern by Erica Kempf Broughton. 

Marcy is working on her Hotel of Bees crochet shawl and it is beautiful! She's using the yarn that is called for in the pattern and it is coming along very quickly and nicely. She's thrilled that it'll easily be done before Thanksgiving and it's a Christmas present. Marcy is also continuing on with knitting her P-Rex and right now it is in that 'knitting black hole' stage! This shawl/cape combo will be worth it though.

Marcy has almost completed her 2nd Octopus for a Preemie and she's hoping to crochet 1-2 a month. 

Marcy has finished her Cancun boxy lace top and has forgotten to talk about it on the podcast! The FO is gorgeous and looks great on her. If you'd like to make the mods that she did, just check out her project page. 

Marcy showing off her FO: Cancun box lacy top.

We are Uber Crafty

Marcy finished her formal dress in time to wear it to her brother in law's wedding! She'll be wearing this long, beautiful dress twice this season, so she's extremely happy to have it done. The pattern is Burda #6868.

Marcy's version of the Burda 6868 dress.

Marcy & her husband Mike at the wedding.

Marcy doing last min sewing
on the dress in the hotel.

What's on our Black Board?

We have plans to visit some local yarn shops and hope to bring those field trips to you in our next episode. There will always be knitting, crochet, spinning, dyeing and or sewing though; you can count on that!

Thank you for joining us! We appreciate each and every one of your spending time with us. We hope that your making is going fabulously and that you are enjoying the season!

Happy Knitting!

Episode 39: Christmas is coming and deep stash knitting!

Hello dear knitters and welcome to episode 39! In this 'in the classroom' ep Marcy and Kim share more information about the Octopus for a Preemie crochet project, gift ideas for knitters, lots of FO's, WIP's and even some Uber Craftiness. Grab your knitting, a PS beverage, get comfy and join us!

Episode 39 Audio

Marcy, Pippa and Kim after recording

What's in our Lesson Plan?

1. On the PA System
2. Show & Tell
3. We are Uber Crafty
4. What's on our Black Board?

On the PA System

Octopus for a Preemie Project.

• We are very excited about the Octopus for a Preemie project. All of the information can be found on it's own page on our blog, here, and on the forum in our Ravelry group, here. We hope that many of you will take a little time and crochet an octopus for a wee baby too. ***It is important that we follow all of the guidelines for crocheting these stuffies, otherwise they won't be able to use them in the NICU. So please read all of the instructions carefully and check your tentacle length and gauge. 
• Marcy pointed out that there're only 10 weeks until Christmas!!!! YIKES! We thought it might be helpful to make a list of gifts for knitters. ***You may want to share this with the non knitters in your life that will be buying for you this season!

1. The amazing Sirka counter. Kim has 2 and Marcy has one and we really like them and highly recommend them.
2. Gift certificates to your Lys if you have one, or an online shop if you don't.
3. Interchangeable knitting needle sets; both of us like KnitPicks, which are also very reasonably priced. 
4. Marcy loves her Knitkit and has found it to be very durable.
5. Project bags, scissors, tape measures and stitch markers are always needed and appreciated. 
6. A subscription to a yarn or fiber club. There are many of these available (check Etsy!) and can be purchased for a few months or up to a year long. Such a wonderful gift for those of us that are fiber obsessed!

   

   The cute emergency case Marcy's
   friend Brooke made for her.

7. Subscriptions to knitting magazines; there are the traditional monthly or quarterly ones like Vogue and Interweave Knits and now we also have the gorgeous Pom Pom Quarterly and Making magazines. (You can google 'knitting magazine' or spinning or weaving magazine to find many more.)
8. Last, but definitely not least- you can make your knitter some cute wall decor. Marcy's friend Brooke made her the cutest 'knitting emergency kit' and Marcy made Kim adorable 3D K2TOG letters for her birthday! Head on over to the craft store or raid your stash and get creative!

Show & Tell

Since it's been about a month since we shared all of our knitting, Kim has a little parade of FO's. She finished her Handspun shawl. This is a project that began on her birthday in August when she dyed a bunch of fiber. She quickly spun a lot of it and was eager to get it on the needles. The shawl has brioche, garter and lace sections and was a very fun knit. Kim was thrilled to completely use up both handspun and hand dyed yarn from her stash. 

From the same batch of hand dyed fiber, Kim spun up yarn for  her "Birthday Sweater Spin #1." The pattern is based off of Andrea Mowry's So Faded pullover and Kim made some mods that are listed on her project page. 

The Ninilchik Swoncho was such a fun and addictive knit and it's DONE! All of the yarn for this project was from stash and some was held double and some held triple. This great pattern is by Caitlin Hunter and Kim highly recommends it. All yarn details are on her project page. 

After months of having zero sock mojo, Kim has finally finished the socks for her nephew. Sadly, they won't be gifted to him since they fit her DH perfectly and he really liked them and he's never asked for any knitwear before! These vanilla socks were knit 2 aat, top down, magic loop and with an after thought heel. The yarn is some very aged Regia (more deep stash used up!) Now Kim needs to quickly knit up a pair of socks to gift to her nephew!!! 

Kim's current WIP's include the P-Rex by Susanne Sommer. This brioche and garter stitch cape/poncho/sweater hybrid is a fun fingering weight knit. It will take awhile to knit as it is a lot of fabric. Marcy and Kim are doing an informal KAL with this project and it's fun to see how different they look in different yarns and colors. Kim is using her hand dyed yarn. The MC is KnitPick's Galileo and the CC is KnitPick's stroll sock yarn. 

The crochet shawl Hotel of Bee's hasn't gotten any love (due to the greedy Ninilchik : ) but Kim is looking forward to getting back to it and finishing this beautiful shawl. In addition, after finishing the Ninilchik, Kim was anxious to knit more fair isle and chose the Damejakka Loppa by Pinnegurri. This fair isle cardigan is knit in the round and steeked. She is planning on putting in a zipper and using the cardigan as a jacket. So far, the yarn has been chosen and she has swatched and she's looking forward to casting on and getting started on this beauty.

Kim and her DH are going on vacation next week and her 1st priority for packing is always knitting and books. She has wound some pretty cotton yarns in preparation to crochet some Octopuses (octopi? octopuses?!?) ***Check out this video from Merriam-Webster about which word is the  correct plural form for octopus. *** 

Also, since socks are the perfect take along project for flying and poolside knitting, Kim has pulled out 3 languishing sock WIP's. 

1. The Achilles Heal by Lucia Light is a free patter on Knitty.com and they were CO on 4/11/16. These socks looked so fun and different and the result is gorgeous...but the unusual construction proved to be a little too unusual and all of the Dpn's and magic loop needles that were needed to knit these concurrently became unwieldy. One of the needles broke and..well, they just need to be finished because the yarn is amazing and should be worn. It's Fishknits yarn Panache in the Sunday Brunch color. Kim is going to see if she can figure out how to finish these without ripping too much out. 
2. The Crazy Zauber Socks were CO 2/29/16 and were intended to fill the color gap in Kim's sock  drawer. She doesn't have any black socks and this yarn (color =Cafe Flair,) is teal and black. Sadly, there's far too much black and it's no fun to knit. Hopefully these will work well for poolside knitting and come home as an FO. 
3. Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder. This popular and free pattern on Ravelry is a fun and easy non vanilla sock pattern. They've got enough texture to keep your interest but are easy enough to memorize. The yarn is Malabrigo sock yarn in #416 Indiecita. These were CO 3/4/17 right before all of Kim's sock mojo went away!

Marcy has been working on a 2nd Octopus in a cute cotton that she picked up from Hobby Lobby. She is also prepping to knit a few more. Marcy is working on becoming a certified Ambassador for the Octopus for a Preemie project and she has talked with a few women from our LYS about a tutorial session for help with the pattern. Yay! hopefully we'll end up with a bunch of octopuses to donate to our local NICU. 

Marcy is continuing to work on her P-Rex and it's looking beautiful. We are both excited to finish and wear these cute capes. She is using KnitPick's Stroll Glimmer in the kestrel color and KnitPick's Chroma Twist fingering in the Get Your Neon color way. 

Marcy has CO the Hotel of Bees Shawl by Christina Hadderingh. This crochet shawl takes you through the 'Hotel of Bees' from Anthony Doerr's book,  All the Light we Cannot See. This will be a Christmas gift for Pippa's daycare provider who is known as Mrs. Bee. Marcy is using the yarn that is called for in the pattern, Scheepjes Stone Washed which is a sport weight 78% cotton 22% acrylic yarn. It's looking so pretty and she's really enjoying having a crochet project on the hook. 

We are Uber Crafty

Marcy has been sewing! She's working on her yearly formal dress that she wears to her husband's office Christmas party. This year she is also planning on wearing her beautiful dress to her brother in law's wedding. The pattern that she's sewing is based on Burda #6868. Her goal is to finish the sewing this afternoon; go Marcy! We have faith in you and know that you can finish. 

Marcy's formal dress she is working on.  The corset is done and
the fashion fabric for the top is done. She just has to make the skirt.

In her  quest to use up stash yarn, especially deep stash, Kim spent a day overdyeing several sweater quantities of deep stash yarn. She knows that she wants to knit the beautiful new fade pattern, Comfort Fade Cardi by Andrea Mowry, and she will probably knit a gradient pullover or cardigan too. It's fun to give stash yarn new life by over dyeing it and also simply revisiting what you already own.

Kim's over dyed yarn

What's on our Black Board?

In our next episode we will share all of our FO's, WIP's new CO's and our spinning, dyeing and sewing with you. In addition, we anticipate visiting one of our Lys's and we'll let you know all about it!

We hope your knitting, crocheting, spinning, sewing, dyeing and general making are going splendidly! Have fun and Happy Knitting. 

Episode 38: Cloth Carousel and Lambtown Fieldtrips

Welcome to ep. 38 Knitters! We have a fun field trip podcast today for your listening pleasure. We revisited the 1st LYS (Cloth Carousel in Winters, CA,) that we went to 2 years ago on the day that we decided to start our podcast and we also went to a local fiber festival; Lambtown in Dixon, CA. In addition, we share our progress on our informal P-Rex- along and we have a special philanthropic crochet CAL that we are excited to tell you about. Grab your knitting, a soothing or bracing beverage, get comfortable and join us!

***Thanks to our LYS, Got Your Goat in Roseville, CA for allowing us to record there again! It's always a fun and lively time there and you may hear a little ambient noise.

Episode 38 Audio

What's in our Lesson Plan?

• On the PA System
• Show and Tell 
• Field trip notes and interview from Cloth Carousel in Winters, CA
• Field trip notes from LambTown in Dixon, CA
• What's on our Black Board?

Pippa, Marcy, Diane, and Kim

Pippa, Marcy and Adina at the Cloth Carousel

On the PA System

Octopus for a Preemie

1. We wanted to remind everyone to take a look at the main page on Ravelry each week. They highlight a new option or  knitting technique and it's always interesting and educational. 
2. Marcy shared a really special philanthropic crochet project: "Octopus for a Preemie." This is a free pattern on Ravelry and was designed to help premature babies in the NICU. The crocheted arms remind babies of the umbilical cord and help them to feel safer. In addition, the babies are able to grab and hold onto the tentacles instead of any tubes or cables that are in their bassinet.  We've decided to hold a CAL for this worthy project and we have a forum on our Ravelry group page.  Our LYS, Got Your Goat, has offered to be a receiving point for the Octopus (octopi?!) and  then Marcy will deliver them to the NICU's in our area. We hope that you'll join in on this easy and fast crochet project that will comfort a baby in distress. (Make sure to read the section below in Show & Tell about the octopus that Marcy made.)

Jacob with his Octopus, isn't he adorable,? It just melts my heart.

Show & Tell

Marcy and Kim are doing an informal P-Rex KAL. This cute cape/poncho/sweater garment has both brioche and garter stitch and was designed by Susanne Sommer. We are both really enjoying this addicting project and are looking forward to cooler weather so that we can wear and enjoy them.

A friend of Marcy's had a baby and sadly he was born with a medical issue that required surgery right away. She had learned about the Octopus for a Preemie project and decided to crochet one for him. Her friend quickly got back to Marcy and said that the nurses in the NICU were asking for more crocheted Octopus because it was comforting the baby so much and keeping him from grabbing any cables or cords. 

 ***There are specific instructions for making the Octopus, please read all about it on this website.***

Fieldtrip Notes- Cloth Carousel

Two years ago Kim and Marcy went on a day trip to Cloth Carousel in Winters, CA. There are actually two shops:  a quilt and a yarn shop  both owned by Adina. During the drive home 2 years ago we decided to start our knitting podcast. We thought it would be fun to revisit this beautiful LYS and interview them and share all of the wonderful yarn, needles, classes and fabric that they offer. 

Diane, the manager of the shop was kind enough to sit down and tell us all about the store. Kim and Marcy are both really impressed with their amazing needle and notions selection, gift items for any and all knitters and of course, beautiful yarn for your current knitting obsession. They also stock some fiber for spinning and felting and  embroidery materials. Cloth Carousel offers classes for all levels as well. This is definitely a LYS that is worth a visit and you'll love the small town of Winters, CA. While you're there you can walk across the street to the quilt shop and pick up some fabric for your next project. 

Please make sure to check out all of the information about Cloth Carousel on our Yarn Shop Evaluation page. Thank you to Adina and Diane for hosting us!

So many beautiful yarns to choose from!

Cloth Carousel

Pippa is just too cute, she had fun shopping!

Fieldtrip Notes- Lambtown

We also visited a local fiber festival in Dixon, CA, Lambtown. This is a great festival that offers yarn, lots of fiber, alpacas, llamas, sheep, sheep dog trials,  classes, demonstrations, great food, entertainment, beer and local booths of all sorts for old and young alike. Sadly, the day that we attended was very windy and we stayed indoors as much as possible, but we both found some beautiful items that we couldn't leave behind and we'll talk more about those stash acquisitions as we knit and spin with them.

Wilson and his cute felted slippers.

Pippa and her new cashmere hat.

Pippa joined us and was the hit of the festival! She was even gifted a beautiful lace knit bonnet from Bonnie Riley of Stitchsisterz! Bonnie had knit the hat for her granddaughter, but it was too small. Happily, it fit Pippa perfectly and looked adorable.

We all had fun wearing our knitwear and Marcy ran into her Cullum Tee twin! Carol, aka caliknitpurl on Ravelry, was wearing her  Cullum Tee and denim and they're both blond and they looked great in their knitted tops. 

Marcy and Carol, they are twins in their Cullum Tees!

What's on our Black Board?

Our next episode will be in the classroom and we'll update you on all of our FO's, WIP's, new CO's spinning, and uber craftiness. 

Thank you for joining us today! We hope that your knitting and making are filling you with joy and that you're having fun. Happy Knitting!

Episode 37: Another Rabbit hole and more Brioche!

Welcome to episode 37 everybody! We are "in the classroom" but out and about today. We recorded  in our Lys and we had little Pippa with us too, so it's a fun and lively time. You'll hear all about our FO's, WIP's and new Co's as well as some uber craftiness. Grab your knitting and a bracing or soothing beverage and join us!

Episode 37 Audio

Kim, Pippa (4.5 months!) and Marcy
after recording

Isn't Pippa the cutest?

What's in our Lesson Plan?

1. On the PA System
2. Show & Tell
3. We re über crafty
4. What's on our Black Board?

On the PA System

• Have you ever wondered what your Ravelry number is? Kim heard about this years ago and has wondered about her's ... but could never figure out how to find it! She finally did and she's #39,053, and Marcy's Ravelry #489,236 joined October 27,2009.  Ravelry has 7,340,396 registered users as of  9/24/2017.  915,646 Ravelers have been active during the last 30 days. You can find this information on the Ravelry Statistics page.  Here's how you look it up on Ravelry: You need to be on a computer and you go to your profile page on Ravelry and type in the "Konami" code and it will show you your #. The code = 

• Marcy and Kim are going to Lambtown in Dixon, Ca. This fun fiber event is on Sat & Sun, 10/7 & 10/8 this year. We're not certain which day we are going yet, but we'll let you know in our next podcast. In addition, we might be having a meet up with the lovely Yarniacs and the 2KnitLit Chicks. We hope to see YOU there!
• Thank you to our LYS, Got Your Goat, in Roseville, CA for allowing us to record here today!

Show & Tell

Kim has finished another 2 color brioche cowl (her 7th, she's done now!) This one is a gift for her  niece and she used the Brioche for Beginners pattern (free on Ravelry,) designed by Emma Galati. She used a skein of her hand dyed yarn and a skein of MadTosh vintage. She is continuing to work on the socks that will be a gift for her  nephew, but she's not in a big sock mood and they're growing pretty slowly. 

The beautiful Hotel of Bees crochet shawl is moving along. Designed by Christina Hadderingh, this well written pattern is perfect for new or experienced crocheters and is really fun to work on. Kim is using 2 skeins of MadTosh Pashmina in the antler and bloomsbury colors and a skein of her hand dyed yarn. 

There're lots of new CO's. Sadly, the Leaf Pane Hat from the book Woodsmoke (we reviewed that in ep. 36, go take a listen,) didn't work out gauge wise with Kim's 3 ply handspun. This is some of the fiber that she dyed on her bday in August and she had a great time spinning and chain plying it and she was very excited to knit a cabled accessory with it. Both the yarn and pattern are beautiful and will get new partners soon and all will be well.

Kim has been really looking forward to knitting with all of her new handspun yarn that she's created over the past 4-5 months. She cast on a shawl (her own free style pattern,) and has really been enjoying knitting brioche, St. st , garter st and some lacy bits while enjoying knitting with her handspun and hand dyed yarns (that she added in when the handspun skein ran out.)

All of the pretty hand dyed fiber was just screaming to be spun and knit this past month and so Kim prepped the fiber for 3 sweater spins. The 1st is done and has been cast on. She is using the numbers for the So Faded pullover by Andrea Mowry and is not fading it because the yarn has lots of pretty colors already. (You'll hear about the other 2 sweater spins in another segment.)

Finally, Kim has fallen down another rabbit hole! Knitters are super enabling and between podcasts, IG and Ravelry it can be really hard to resist the new and shiny things and patterns! She saw Amy Beth of the Fat Squirrel Speaks video podcast and Kristi Glass, who has a channel on You Tube, both post and talk about their Ninichik Swonchos by Caitlin Hunter and last Friday Kim lost all ability to resist casting on. She's using a skein of her hand spun for the main color and a combination of other stashed yarns for the contrasting colors. 

***We mention the awesome Knit for Fun retreats by Ann Budd, go check them out!

Marcy has finished several adorable crowns for several friend's little girls. The Circlet pattern by Dani Sunshine is free on Ravelry and it's a fun, fast  and cute knit. She also finished the oh so cute Owl Hat for Pippa. This is a free crochet pattern on Ravelry and it's sized baby to adult. 

Marcy is continuing to make great progress on her Cancun boxy lace top and is almost done with the knitting. This is a really pretty pullover that uses the dimensions of the Boxy  by Joji Locatelli and the pattern is based on the Cancun boxy lace top by erin kate archer. She's using Knit One, Crochet Too Batiste and this yarn is just luscious! 

She has also gone down the brioche rabbit hole in preparation to cast on a P Rex. So Marcy is knitting a  Brioche for Beginners 2 color cowl by Emma Galati. She's using leftover yarn, Anzula Cloud in the charcoal and watermelon colors and this yarn is also luscious and amazing! Marcy has caught on to brioche very quickly and is ready and excited to cast on the P Rex by Susanne Sommer. Kim and Marcy are doing an informal  KAL with the P Rex and if you'd like to join us (knitting that poncho or any other brioche item,) join us!

Marcy's friend Brooke made Pippa a few presents, one is the adorable strawberry hat and then she made Susan B. Anderson's Flower Fairy & Leaf Sprite stuffies.

Pippa enjoying her new stuffies!

Pippa in her strawberry hat camping.

We are Uber Crafty

Kim has continued to spin on a daily basis and is having a ball! Buying a 2nd spinning wheel and having both wheels set up and ready to go has really made a huge difference in the amount of spinning that she's doing on a daily basis.  The 1st sweater spin fiber has already been spun and cast on (see above,) and she has finished the 1st bobbin for the 2nd SS.

Skein #1 for Kim's sweater spin #2. This is a chain plied 3 ply.

The mini skeins that Kim spun from leftover singles. The 3 on
 the left are chain plied 3 ply and the one on the right is a 2ply.

All of the SS's will be spun supported long draw and the 1st was a 2 ply. The 2nd will be a  3 ply and she chain (or Navajo) plied it. Now, Kim just needs to spin and ply 6 more bobbins! The 3rd SS will be a traditional 3 ply and Kim has finished 1 full bobbin of singles...so lots of spinning to go on that one.

Last weekend Kim decided to clean off a bunch of her bobbins and she 2 plied and chain plied several mini skeins from the leftover singles. Maybe she'll save these mini skeins to make another crochet afghan next year?

Marcy has been sewing lots of cute baby gifts and items for Pippa. She bought the fabric from Spoonflower and she made a few light weight blankets and crib sheets and changing table covers. She also helped her mom design some fabrics with some artwork that a 10 year old girl did. Her mom wanted to use the artwork to make her some presents. So she worked on Spoonflower to create some fabric, on is of a little girl and one is of a red robin on a tree branch.

What's on our Black Board?

Next weekend Marcy and Kim are going back to where all of this podcasting business started two years ago! We are going to the LYS in Winters, CA, Cloth Carousel. In our next episode we will tell you all about our fun day and share an interview with you. 

Thank you for joining us everybody! We hope that your knitting is going swimmingly and that you're enjoying your making and having a ball. We'll "see" you next time, Happy Knitting!